


Never Settle

by poisonflowers



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Eavesdropping, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 22:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11678670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonflowers/pseuds/poisonflowers
Summary: Varric overhears an argument between the Inquisitor and the Seeker, and it gives him hope.





	Never Settle

He hadn't meant to eavesdrop. 

Varric had gone up onto the ramparts that day intending to write. His editor was on his ass again about the latest chapter of "Hard in Hightown," and the Great Hall had gotten a little too crowded with nobles vying for Inquisitor Cadash's attention ever since they'd returned from the Winter Palace. A new crowd of Orlesians had just arrived today, the masks sure were creepy.

He hadn't intended to fall asleep either, but it was an unusually warm day for Skyhold. And Varric had also been up late last night at the tavern trying to teach Cole how to play Wicked Grace. The kid still didn't get it. 

He wasn't sure how long he'd dozed off for, when he awoke to voices. Angry voices. Varric kept quiet and reached for his trusty crossbow, Bianca, then paused when he realized the voices were familiar. It was the Inquisitor, arguing with the Seeker. 

"Did you just say I can't court you?" Cadash growled.

Varric sure was awake now! He glanced about quickly, making sure he was hidden from the couple's view by the pile of barrels. He could just see the source of the voices over near the corner of the ramparts. Cadash was his usual, stoic self, all bushy beard and Carta tattoos. The Seeker, on the other hand, seemed uncharacteristically flustered. She was pacing nervously before the stout dwarven Inquisitor, her face red. 

"I want a man who sweeps me off my feet," Cassandra said. "Who gives me flowers and reads me poetry by candlelight...I want the ideal."

Varric felt a strange tightening in his chest. The Seeker and the Inquisitor...he'd never even suspected. Shit, and he was usually so good about these kinds of things, he'd figured out Hawke had a thing for Daisy when she was still wasting her time chasing Isabela.

"You are the Inquisitor and the Herald of Andraste," The Seeker continued, her voice softer now. "You cannot be that man."

If Varric had been writing this story, this was where the hero would have swept the fair maiden off her feet. He would have pledged to indeed be that man, pulled a rose from his tunic and kissed her. But Cassandra was no fair maiden. And Cadash...didn't do anything. He just stared at her, mouth down-turned and eyebrows knitted together. 

"I know what you see," the Seeker said. "I am a warrior. I am blunt and difficult and self-righteous." Ah, that sounded more like the Seeker Varric knew. "But my heart lies beneath all that," she continued, "it yearns for these things I cannot have. If you cannot see that, then desist. What enamors you is but the surface."

"This explains a lot about you," Cadash snapped.

"Does it now?" Cassandra's voice had a dangerous edge to it. Varric recognized that tone, he was frequently on the receiving end of it. First time he'd heard it the Seeker had followed up her sentence with a knife through one of his books.

"It seems an excellent way to ensure you never have to be with anyone," Cadash said bluntly.

Ouch. 

"I think too much of myself to settle for less," Cassandra replied. Her entire demeanor had changed, she was no longer flustered. The Seeker stood tall, still and cold. "I appreciate the attention Inquisitor, but you have more important matters to attend to. As do I." She turned sharply away from the dwarf, almost walking into a wall, then stomped back down the steps towards the great hall. 

Cadash made as if to follow her, then stopped. He scratched the back of his head with one hand, then waved dismissively in the direction she had gone and stalked off the opposite way, shaking his head. 

Varric realized he'd been holding his breath. He let it out now in one long woosh, then turned back to his writing. 

Nothing nothing nothing. 

He couldn't get the conversation out of his head! The Seeker and the Inquisitor. The Seeker and a dwarf!? Varric had never imagined...

Of course, whatever the Seeker and the Inquisitor had had was over now. The couple seemed to have mutually burned whatever bridges they'd built. And salted the earth. Maybe pissed on the ashes.

But still, Varric was surprised it had even gotten that far! Cadash was what Buttercup called "a real dwarfy-dwarf." He had a braided beard, whereas Varric kept his face shaved. Cadash had been in deep with the Carta, had tattoos on his face, believed in the stone, whereas Varric was Andrastian, like the Seeker. He may not be as devout as the Seeker or even feel welcome in a Chantry since Kirkwall but...he belied. Hey, it was a good story.

Varric stared down at his manuscript again, then sighed and put away "Hard in Hightown". Then he pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and scrawled, "Swords and Shields, Chapter 6" across the top, and got to work.

***

You know how it is when inspiration strikes, you've got to take advantage! Who knows when it will strike again or when you might get struck by a case of writer's block. So Varric shut himself up in his rooms and ignored the world outside in favor of the world he built on the page. Days later, he emerged with a finished chapter. Or, at least a rough draft. It would do. He slept, ate, and scrubbed himself first-date clean, then sought out the Seeker. 

She was in the training yard, as usual, hacking away at a training dummy. It looked like it had taken quite the beating recently, and Cassandra's eyes were red and puffy. 

"Hey, um...Seeker?" Varric approached cautiously.

"What!?" Cassandra spun around, just barely missing him with her blade, "what do you want, dwarf?"

"Woah! Hold up, Seeker, I'm unarmed," He held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of surrender. 

Cassandra's shoulders slumped and she dropped the training sword. "I apologize, Varric. You are not my enemy. Now, what do you want?"

He smiled and pulled the manuscript out from his tunic, "Sorry to bother you, it's just I've got a new chapter of Swords and Shields-"

Cassandra made a grab for the papers, which Varric easily sidestepped, "woah now, Seeker! It's just a first draft, thought I could read it to you, and maybe you could...give me some notes?"

"Yes!" Cassandra blurted out, then quickly composed herself, "I mean, I would be happy to assist, Varric. Now?"

Varric's face lit up, "I'm free if you are."


End file.
